The Coat
by Secrets-and-Smiles
Summary: One of the first things that Ianto noticed about Jack was the coat and he does love that coat...


Author Note: This might be verging on a 'M' rating rather than a T due to the use of sexual language in one part. Torchwood is owned by the BBC.

The Coat

Ianto couldn't explain it, other people had worn Jack's coat before so why was he so jealous? In fact he supposed looking at the rest of the team walking in front of him, at some point or the other they had all worn it.

Tosh had worn it after the cannibals, her close shave with almost being eaten was making her shiver, so Jack had wrapped her up warm before getting them the hell out of that village.

Owen had worn it once when a Weevil capture had gone wrong and he had ended up falling into the bay; it was October and freezing, so Owen had shrugged on the greatcoat to prevent hypothermia.

He himself had worn it on many occasions; after missions that hadn't gone well, during dates and countless other times.

Jack wore it everywhere, everyday, no matter what the occasion; it didn't matter if it was in the middle of summer Jack would wear the heavy, woollen coat. He even wore it in bed if Ianto asked him to, one of Ianto's favourite positions was Jack riding him, naked but for his coat. One of Jack's favourite things was for him to be fucking Ianto whilst he wore the coat, or at least with them lying on it as the made fast, frantic and passionate love. Ianto secretly loved it when Jack asked him to wear the coat, Jack's smell would surround him and the wool felt wonderful against his naked skin...

So why was it bothering him so much that Gwen was wearing it? Ianto tried to hide a smirk as he wondered if Gwen could smell him and Jack on the fabric. Or what her expression would be if she knew exactly what kind of things he and Jack got up to with that coat; but that moment of immaturity soon passed and he tried to puzzle over his confused feelings.

Ianto eventually came to the conclusion that it bothered him because Gwen was wearing the coat for no reason at all. Owen had been cold, Toshiko had been in shock and he wore it because he was with Jack, maybe not in a conventional sense with a defined label, but they were still together. Gwen, however, wasn't wet or scared or injured... In fact Gwen was perfectly fine, she had just asked if she could wear it and Jack said yes, without even thinking about it.

Ianto bit his lip worriedly, he knew that Jack got a kick out of him wearing his coat, his boxers, his shirts... was he now getting a kick from Gwen wearing his clothes? He couldn't deny that there was _something_ between Gwen and Jack, a smouldering tension that, when he thought about it, made him sick to his stomach. With Gwen around, Ianto could never relax; if the team went to the pub he could never spend time being Jack's... whatever he was to Jack because she managed to make him feel self-conscious and get Jack to ignore him and focus his attention on her at the same time.

Sometimes Ianto wanted to scribble a sign on Jack's forehead telling Gwen to back off and be happy with Rhys. Most days Ianto just ignored it and accepted the affection that he did get from Jack, ignoring Gwen's wide eyes and Jack's easy smiles around her. Other days, the bad days, Ianto wanted to jump and down in front of Jack and say 'look at me; I'm the one you chose!' Ianto frowned as his thoughts brought him to the crux of the matter, he was never entirely sure if he _was_ the one that Jack chose when he came back, or if he was the option left over because Gwen had said yes to Rhys. Sometimes, Ianto wondered if Gwen kicked herself for accepting Rhys' proposal so hastily.

"Come on Ianto" called Jack.

Ianto snapped out of his thoughts and realised that he had lagged behind the others. They were walking back to the hub after deciding that they all fancied fish and chips for lunch and Ianto had ended up walking behind everyone. Ianto gave Jack a small smile and lengthened his stride to catch up to where Jack had stopped, picking up a rapidly cooling chip and popping it into his mouth. The chip began to taste like cardboard and Ianto lost all interest in it as Gwen tugged on Jack's shirt sleeve so that he would keep walking with her. Jack just flashed an apologetic smile to Ianto and began walking again, laughing at whatever Gwen was saying.

Ianto quickly caught up Owen and Tosh, but did not join in, in their conversation; he just watched Gwen and Jack who were slightly ahead.

"You not hungry?" asked Owen, balling up his chip paper and chucking it in a nearby bin as they passed by.

Ianto shook his head and Owen just took the chips out of his hands, offering some to Tosh. Ianto didn't even resist, he was too busy having an internal rant as he watched Gwen wipe her greasy fingers on the back of Jack's coat. His eyes narrowed, how _dare_ she do that?

As soon as they entered the hub Ianto went straight to the Archives in silence, he couldn't bear to watch Jack help Gwen out of his coat.

-TW-

Jack frowned as he shrugged on his coat at the end of the day. Usually Jack didn't really notice the smell of his coat, but he did enjoy it when sometimes he'd get a slight whiff of coffee and Ianto's aftershave after he has worn it. But now his coat just smelt wrong, it smelt oddly like perfume and it took a moment for Jack to remember that Gwen had worn it earlier. He had been somewhat surprised when Gwen had asked if she could wear his coat on their way to lunch, but he couldn't really have said no.

As they had walked along Jack couldn't help but smile at Gwen, she had looked like a child wearing her father's coat, the sleeves were too long and the coat dwarfed her frame. He couldn't help but compare it to when Ianto wore his coat; he knew that it was an odd kink but Jack quite liked it when Ianto wore his clothes. His lover wasn't as broad as him, so the coat wasn't an exact fit, but he still looked quite sexy in it. Idly Jack wondered how good Ianto would look in a UNIT uniform, seeing as the RAF coat suited him and made a mental note to ask Martha for a favour.

Thinking about Ianto, Jack frowned. Ianto had been quiet all day and hadn't eaten his lunch, but whenever he had tried to talk to him Ianto just said that he was busy. Jack decided that he would get to the bottom of what was troubling Ianto tonight.

-TW-

Whilst working down in the depths of the hub Ianto decided to stop being silly. It was just a coat and it didn't matter who wore it as long as Jack still came to him when the others had gone home. Right on cue Ianto heard Jack's heavy footfalls and smiled, but his smile faltered slightly as he saw that Jack was wearing his coat.

"Hey" Jack said, walking up to Ianto and kissing him softly.

Ianto was surprised "what was that for?"

Jack just shrugged, grinned and held out his hand "let's get out of here."

"I really need to fin-"

"Ianto" Jack interrupted "it can wait until tomorrow. Everyone else went home over an hour ago."

Ianto sighed and said "you're right."

The two men walked back up into the main area of the hub and Ianto began to shut down the stations and clear away any used mugs. After a few moments Ianto dimmed the lights and reached for his coat.

"You ready?" asked Jack softly, concerned with how quiet Ianto was being.

"Yep" Ianto said shortly, not really meeting Jack's gaze. He was surprised as he saw that Jack was holding out his coat to him and allowed him to help him slip it on.

"Yan" Jack began.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" asked Ianto, interrupting and being falsely bright.

Jack looked at Ianto for a moment before holding out his hand and saying "I have an idea, come with me."

Jack led Ianto up to his favourite rooftop. It was one of the tallest buildings in Cardiff and the whole city was spread out at their feet, lights twinkling away. Ianto stood silently, watching tiny cars drive home and the thrum of life that was the city of Cardiff. He didn't question why Jack had decided to come here and waited for the older man to begin.

Jack stood behind Ianto and wrapped his arms around his waist, encouraging Ianto to lean back in his embrace. For a second Ianto allowed himself the luxury and sank into Jack's arms but then suddenly caught the faint aroma of Gwen's perfume from Jack's collar and immediately tensed again.

"Hey" murmured Jack against Ianto's ear. "Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Ianto said, Jack would probably run away again if he realised how petty he was being. "I'm just tired."

"Hmm" said Jack, not convinced. Ianto didn't need to turn around to know that Jack was frowning slightly.

After a few minutes of silence Jack said "I always come up here when I have something on my mind, after a while, whatever it is seems insignificant."

"The city we protect" mumbled Ianto.

"Ianto we protect the world" Jack whispered back.

Ianto huffed a laugh and turned in Jack's embrace so that they were facing each other "so what do you have on your mind then?" he asked.

"You" Jack said honestly "something's wrong and you won't talk to me."

"It's nothing" said Ianto "honestly." Ianto turned away from Jack and looked upwards "the stars are bright tonight" he said, changing the subject.

"Yeah" Jack said distantly. He was too busy looking at the long, pale expanse of throat that Ianto was showing, his eyes gazing in wonder at the night's sky above him.

"It's beautiful" Ianto murmured.

"It sure is" said Jack but he wasn't sure if he was talking about the stars at all. Jack shrugged off his coat and made to lay it on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Ianto said suddenly.

Jack stopped moving "I thought you wanted to stargaze, we can sit on this."

Ianto shook his head "you don't want to get it dirty Jack."

Jack chuckled and said "I think Gwen did that for me, she got chip grease everywhere earlier." Jack's sharp eyes noticed how Ianto immediately stiffened at the mention of Gwen and sighed, he knew exactly what was wrong. "You're not upset because Gwen wore my coat are you?" he asked, almost incredulously.

"No" Ianto said sharply.

"Good" said Jack. He lay his coat down and sat on it, patting the space next to him so Ianto would sit down.

"It's more than that" Ianto suddenly blurted.

Jack looked up at Ianto worriedly and saw that Ianto was a little shocked at himself for saying it out loud.

"Oh?" he said.

"Never mind" Ianto said, looking back up at the stars.

"Ianto." Ianto flinched as he heard Jack's annoyed tone. "You can't just throw that out there and then stop talking."

Ianto sighed and sat down on Jack's coat, their shoulders brushing against each other, before putting his arms behind him so that he could lean back and continue looking at the sky. "It's beautiful" he repeated. "All those stars, worlds, cultures... just _everything_ up there."

Jack remained silent, sensing that Ianto was building up to something.

"You had all of space and time at your fingertips Jack and you came back to Earth, to Cardiff, to Torchwood." Ianto ended his sentence with a whisper.

Jack moved so that he was mirroring Ianto's position and placed a hand on top of Ianto's. "To you" he finished.

Ianto jerked his hand out from beneath Jack's and said "don't say that."

Jack was confused "but I did, I came back for you Ianto."

Ianto looked at Jack "you came back for all of us."

Jack bit his lip as he remembered what he had said when he had come back, he hadn't wanted to be rejected or seem vulnerable at the time when he had said 'for all of you', but he had hoped that Ianto had understood at the time.

"But _especially_ for you Yan."

Ianto sighed heavily and just said "don't."

"Don't what?" asked Jack confused.

"You came back" Ianto paused and then thought, in for a penny in for a pound, "and Gwen was engaged."

"So this is because she wore my coat then" said Jack, not too impressed.

Ianto just glared at Jack and scrambled back up so that he was standing. "No, it's not" Ianto said pacing. "Well it is and it's not."

Jack watched amusedly as Ianto worked himself up into a frenzy. "Ianto" he said "yes Gwen was engaged but I did still _choose_ you. You weren't the only remaining option or something."

Jack immediately realised that that sounded wrong as Ianto just stopped still and stared at him incredulously. "Well _thanks_" he said sarcastically.

Jack stood up and gripped Ianto by the shoulders "what I mean" he said softly "was that if I didn't want you, I wouldn't have asked you out on that date. I wouldn't _be _with you now."

Ianto refused to meet Jack's gaze so Jack had to move his hands to Ianto's face, making him look at him. "I want to be with you Ianto, not Gwen. As for the coat thing, well I couldn't exactly say 'no you can't wear it' could I?"

Ianto gave a weak smile in response but still wasn't convinced.

"I prefer it when you wear it though" Jack whispered, "you look quite sexy in it."

A small smile pulled at Ianto's lips as Jack kissed his cheek softly.

"We can't just solve this with sex Jack" Ianto murmured.

"I know" Jack said "and I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel second best or something Yan, 'cause you're not."

Ianto closed his eyes and rested his head on Jack's shoulder, pulling him into a hug "I love that coat" Ianto said suddenly.

Jack just grinned into Ianto's hair "that was one of the first flirty things you said to me."

Jack pulled Ianto back down onto the coat and the two men spent hours lying there, talking about anything and everything and by the end of the night Ianto knew that he wasn't second best.

-TW-

Months later and the team were working on clean up for their latest mission. They had been tracking a mysterious life sign in Bute Park and it had all gone well, apart from the fact that Gwen had gotten knocked into the river. Ianto had helped her out and now they both were completely soaked and cold. Jack had ordered them to stay put and let the rest of the team sort out the mess, before taking off his coat and wrapping it around Ianto.

Ianto looked at Gwen, who looked more than a little bedraggled and felt sorry for her; her teeth were chattering and she had Owen's coat around her shoulders, but the medic's coat was only a leather jacket and was doing nothing to keep her warm. Ianto sighed, slipped off Jack's coat and placed it on Gwen's shoulders.

Gwen opened her eyes widely "no Ianto, your coat got wet..."

Ianto shook his head and smiled kindly "its okay, you're wetter than I am. I'll go and see if there's any tea leftover from retconning the witnesses eh?"

"Thanks" Gwen said gratefully, whilst her cold, stiff fingers pulled the material of Jack's greatcoat tighter around her.

Jack caught sight of Ianto wandering around in only his shirt and waistcoat before seeing that Gwen had his coat on. "Ianto you're going to freeze" he said worriedly.

"Gwen needed your coat more than I did" Ianto said, even though he did feel pretty cold.

"I'm surprised you let her" Jack said softly, pulling Ianto into a hug.

Ianto enjoyed the feeling of Jack's body warmth and said "it's just a coat." Jack smiled into Ianto's hair and then laughed as Ianto added "besides I have you to keep me warm anyway."

"That you do Ianto" chuckled Jack "that you do."


End file.
